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Friday, April 26, 2024
News and Views from the Global South
Crime & Justice
Attacks on UNRWA Not About Its Neutrality, Says UNRWA Chief
The UN Palestinian refugee agency welcomed the recommendations made in the report from the independent investigation led by Catherine Colonna and warned of new and continuing concerns that threaten the agency’s operations.
Seeking Justice for the Civilian Victims of the Syrian Civil War
When the Syrian Army launched its offensive against the stronghold of rebel FSA (Free Syrian Army) in Homs in February 2012, the safety of civilians was not a factor.
‘Living in Fear’: Landowners in Uganda’s Oil Field on Brink of Eviction
When Mugisha Jealousy Mulimba learned that the government of Uganda was dragging him to court, he expected justice. But he says he has realized these courts are being used to deprive him of his rights to a fair hearing and the right to fair and adequate compensation for his land and property.
Migration in the Americas: A Dream That Can Turn Deadly
The Darién Gap is a stretch of jungle spanning the border between Colombia and Panama, the only missing section of the Pan-American Highway that stretches from Alaska to southern Argentina. For good reason, it used to be considered impenetrable. But in 2023, a record 520,000 people crossed it heading northwards, including many children. Many have lost their lives trying to cross it.
Education Cannot Wait in Responding to the Regional Crisis Stemming From the Armed Conflict in Sudan
The conflict in Sudan is one of the worst in the world today, and millions of children and adolescents bear the brunt within and across the border from Sudan.
The Climate Alarm Is Ringing – It’s Time to Stop Silencing It
The heat records keep tumbling – 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history. Extreme weather events keep mounting up. And yet the voices most strongly calling for action to prevent climate catastrophe are increasingly being silenced.
Rwanda: A Ravaged Country That Bounced Back
As we contemplate the clouded futures of Gaza, Ukraine, and other dire conflict zones that get far less coverage, it may be instructive to recall the surprising success story of a ravaged country that bounced back: Rwanda.
El Salvador’s Cycles of Violence Through a Teenager’s Eyes
Two years since President Nayib Bukele announced a “war against gangs” in El Salvador, the country has gone through rapid change.
Kwibuka30: Learning from the Past, Safeguarding the Future Against Genocide
One should never lose sight that for people who experienced genocide, the warning signs were there. Genocide is a process. It requires preparation and capacities to carry it out.
30 Years On, Genocide Survivors Embark on a Journey To Build a Resilient Future
A minute of silence was observed on April 7 across Rwanda as the country held a memorial ceremony to mourn more than one million people, overwhelmingly Tutsis, who were systematically killed in the 100 days of atrocities between April and July 1994.
Senegal’s Democracy Passes Crucial Test
The fact that Senegal’s election took place on 24 March was in itself a triumph for civil society. That an opposition candidate, campaigning on an anti-establishment and anti-corruption agenda, emerged from jail to become the continent’s youngest leader offered fresh hope for democracy.
Global Governance: Time for Reform
At last the UN Security Council has passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. While stopping short of demanding a permanent end to the violence, it goes further than the world’s peak peace and security body had so far managed since the start of the current brutal phase of conflict in October. But the time it’s taken to get to this point signals an ongoing failure of global institutions to uphold human rights.
Will Israel Defy Another Security Council Resolution?
The UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution for a temporary cease-fire in the ongoing conflict in Gaza— adopted by a 14-0 vote with the US abstaining –- marks a significant step forward in momentarily halting the five-month-old fighting which has claimed the lives of over 32,000 Palestinians and 1,200 inside Israel. But a lingering question remains: how will Israel respond? Clearly, Israel has had a longstanding notoriety for flouting UNSC resolutions ---and still never having to pay a price for such violations—primarily because of the unyielding support of the United States.
Defending Human Rights is Increasingly Dangerous: US Congress & Companies Must Act
Human rights defenders are under fire. At a time when the climate crisis is deepening and threats to democracy are on the rise, activists working to protect people and the environment are facing deadly threats. Front Line Defenders documented more than 400 murders of defenders in 2022—the highest number ever recorded.
Fall-out from Ecuador’s Crises Highlights Need to Invest in Grassroots Resilience
Shocking and ongoing levels of violence in Ecuador since the New Year followed by flooding caused by El Niño landed a double blow for those in the country who live day to day and are most vulnerable to instability.
Written in Memory of Alexei Navalny and Osip Mandelstam
The devastation of Ukraine and Gaza might seem to be beyond belief. Let us thus turn to fairy tales to find descriptions of the stony indifference of warlords.
In Pakistan, Death Can Be Just a WhatsApp Share Away
Justice Zafar Yab Chadhar's March 6 order sentencing 22-year-old Junaid Munir to ‘be hanged by his neck till he is dead’ on charges of sharing blasphemous material over WhatsApp was devastating for his family. “The earth moved from underneath my feet,” is how 57-year-old Chaudhry Munir Hussain, Munir’s father, described his feelings as he heard the judge read out the judgment that day in a court in Gujranwala, a city in Punjab province.
Democracy’s Contested Territory
This year more than half the world’s population has the chance to go to the polls. That might make it look like the most democratic year ever, but the reality is more troubling. Too many of those elections won’t give people a real say and won’t offer any opportunity for change.
Gender Rights: Resistance Against Regression
Global progress on gender rights has slowed almost to a halt. After decades of steady progress, demands for the rights of women and LGBTQI+ people now play out on bitterly contested territory. Over the course of several decades, global movements for rights won profound changes in consciences, customs and institutions. They elevated over half of humanity, excluded for centuries, to the status of holders of rights.
State Fails to Stem Kidnapping For Ransom Crisis in Nigeria
Lilian Eze still shivers when she recalls the frequent attacks by kidnappers in the Kaduna community she once lived in, in north-central Nigeria. In February 2022, she fled with her children to Abuja, the nation's capital, to ensure their safety. In an interview with IPS, she explained that the kidnappers would invade the community on foot and with a horde of motorbikes in the evenings with little or no resistance from security agencies.
Netanyahu Is Rendering Israel Morally Bankrupt
Israel must uphold its moral values and make every effort to spare the lives of innocent Palestinians as it pursues Hamas’ destruction. The unfathomable massacre of Israeli Jews by Hamas and its insatiable thirst for Jewish blood has rightfully evoked the most virulent condemnation from many corners of the world, including many Arab states. The call for revenge and retribution by many Israelis was an instinctive human reaction that can be justified in a moment of incomparable rage and devastation.Next Page »
Issues of crime and justice are as pertinent to development as they have ever been. The struggle for abolition of the death penalty is not over, and penal reform is desperately needed in many countries around the world. From violence to religious persecution, white-collar crime to police brutality, we keep you updated with reports from around the world. IPS correspondents focus on the causes of crime, attempts to prevent it, and the process of bringing those who commit crimes to justice. We also cover the campaign against capital punishment, and for legal and prison reforms that would give prisoners the right to life, and also to justice and decency.
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